With the advent of the Internet, society has witnessed the expansion of a global packet-switched data network into an ever-increasing number of homes and businesses. This has enabled an ever-increasing number of users to communicate with each other, primarily utilizing electronic communications, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Meanwhile, advances have been made in delivering voice communication over packet-switched data networks, driven primarily by the cost advantage of placing long-distance calls over the packet-switched data networks, but also by the ability to deliver advanced service features to users. This cost advantage can be enjoyed by both a service provider delivering the voice communication over the packet-switched data network service (in a form of lower operating cost), as well as the user who subscribes to the services of such a service provider (in a form of lower service subscription fees). Technology dealing with the delivery of real-time voice communication over the packet-switched data network is generally referred to as voice-over-packet, voice-over-IP or, simply, VoIP.
As is well appreciated in the art, the delivery technology for VoIP-based systems is fundamentally different from the delivery technology for the traditional PSTN-based systems. This is true not only for the underlining technology, but also for the user experience. For example, in the VOIP-based systems, a user has to “log into” a communication client (ex. a VoIP phone or a soft client executed on a computing apparatus) before being able to make or receive calls. Typically, the user has to input a user name and a password into the communication client. The communication client then establishes a connection with a soft switch and logs into the telephony service using the user name and the password.
Certain groups of users may find the logging in requirement confusing and difficult to implement. This is particularly true for those user segments who are accustomed to the user experience in the PSTN world, where a telephone can be simply plugged into a wall outlet at a customer premises and, provided there exists telephony service at the customer premises, the telephone will work (i.e. there will be a dial tone and the user can receive and initiate calls). The requirement to log in may prevent some of the users to choose a VoIP-based solution and, therefore, may hinder VoIP service providers from expanding their VoIP customer base to all customer segments. It would be beneficial to have a simpler way to allow a user to provision a VoIP communication client.